PROLOGUE
the beginningTHE SUPERMARKET AISLES HAD NEVER LOOKED SO TEMPTING. Filled to the brim with bright packaging, artificial flavouring, a temptation to anyone on an empty stomach. To her, they must have looked like how the apple looked to Eve, sacred and tempting, something she could never have. Her stomach growled, turning uncomfortably in a twisted summersault. She had learnt to ignore the clenching ache in her gut, yet it felt so difficult surrounded by so much food. Her hands were stuffed in her pockets, bright rose tinted eyes drawn to the dirty converses on her feet. Her glasses were crooked, the paint chipped and the frame looked like it was in its last life. She could only hope they'd last a few more days, then maybe she could find a shop and sneak some glasses for her to try. She could read the numbers at least. A hood was thrown over her curly auburn hair, though coils seemed to leak through regardless, throwing themselves over her deeply tanned face. There were smudges of dirt on her skin, scabs on her forehead from places she had fallen. She must've looked like the most suspicious person in the world.
She had stolen before, multiple times actually. She didn't want to, but it was either let her family starve or steal. She didn't really have a choice. Yet, at least when she stole back then, she was back home, not in a foreign shop with currency she didn't even own. At least she had some familiarity of where she was stealing from.
Here it was every man for himself.
Her stomach growled once again and she cringed. It hurt a lot. She couldn't even recall the last meal she had. It had to have been weeks ago, maybe a packet of crisps. The ache in her stomach wasn't as painful as it used to be, however, but she wished she had something better to eat than the leftovers people put in the bins at parks.
"You gonna buy something, little miss?" A shop attendant loomed near her, watching the girl with a sharp stare. The term of endearment rolled off her tongue in an uncomfortable beat, making the small girl frown. Her eyes zoned in on a somewhat tall, tanned blonde with fake white teeth and a taunting grin. If there was one important thing she had learnt from the past few months, it was that people didn't smile at you like that unless they thought something suspicious. It was their disguise, to make you comfortable enough to drop your guard. The woman had deep deep, artificially curled red hair, the kind you get from chemicals, and practically pupil-less eyes. There was nothing nice about this girl, she seemed almost empty. "Where's your mom and dad?"
YOU ARE READING
ELEGY OF MADNESS | P. JACKSON & A. CHASE
Fanfic❛I can change everything about me to fit in.❜ Half of the soul is meant for love, the other for madness. It is the fate foretold for what her mother did. percy jackson x leia o'connor x annabeth chase percy jackson and the olympians memoirs of a m...